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SENSATIONAL at 60!
I would like to start off this weeks Q&A by first saying, “Happy Birthday” to my dad. On Tuesday, October 3rd he turned 60 YEARS YOUNG! Yes, you heard me correctly…the man that is pictured above is 60. If there’s another 60-year-old out there that looks like this, I wanna meet him. I don’t think that there’s another person on the planet who has dedicated his life to strength, health & fitness with the same passion that my dad has. And even though he may also be the only person left on the planet that doesn’t own a computer, I still wanted to take this time to say Happy Birthday – YOU ARE AN INSPIRATION TO US ALL!
Joe D.
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Q: Joe, I’ve
heard you talk about rotating exercises every couple
of weeks to ensure progress with your athletes. My question
is, how many core exercises are in your pool of exercises
to choose from? I’m
having trouble coming up with new exercises for max-effort
day (especially lower body). I tend to go back to doing
the same old exercises all the time.
David
A: David,
First of all, when we talk about variety, it is important
for you to know that all of your max-effort exercises
don’t have to be drastically different from one
another. The slightest change in an exercise creates
a different stimulus for the athlete. For example, we
only have 5 “core” lower body max-effort
exercises that we tend to use with our athletes. They
are:
-
Box squat
-
Free squat (no box)
-
Trap Bar deadlift
-
Straight bar deadlift
-
Strongman exercises
Within these 5 “core” exercises, there are literally hundreds of slight variations. Here are just a couple variations that pop into my head for each of our “core” exercises:
-
Box Squat – You can vary the height of the box (parallel, 1” above parallel, 1” below parallel, etc.); you can vary the bars that you use (safety bar, cambered bar, etc.); accommodate resistance with bands & chains.
-
Free squat – “Olympic-style” below parallel, wide stance “powerlifting-style”, safety bar, cambered bar, accommodate resistance with chains, etc.
-
Trap Bar deadlift - standing on boxes to increase range of motion, accommodate resistance with chains & bands, etc.
-
Straight bar deadlift – thick bar, snatch grip, mixed grip, pronated grip, standing on boxes, rack pulls, accommodate resistance with bands & chains, etc.
-
Strongman exercises – tire flip, truck push, sled pull, farmers walk, etc.
As you can see, the possibilities are endless. The above list is just off the top of my head. Also remember that you can vary the rep ranges along with the different exercises. Once you add up all the different exercise variations along with the different rep ranges, you will literally have hundreds of variations to choose from! You should never get bored in the weight room again.
Our new strength training DVD will give you an inside
look at our favorite Max-effort, Dynamic-effort & Repetition
exercises for upper & lower body. It is being edited
as we speak.
Stay tuned!
Joe D.
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Q: Mr. Defranco – wow your Defranco bars taste great – my
friend bought them from you and let me try one and they are the best
bars I’ve ever tasted. They are a lil expensive but when
I get the money I am definitely gonna order some. I played my best game
of basketball ever after eating the defranco bar!! I just wanted to
tell you how much I liked them and how much great info I have learned
from your site!!
Keep up the good, no great, work coach!
Gino
A: Gino,
Thanks for your feedback. Now, I would like to address
two things from your email…
#1 – You said that you “played your best basketball game ever” after eating the DeFranco Energy Bar. First of all, THAT IS GREAT – Congratulations! But, the reason I wanted to address that statement is because I feel that most “energy” supplements get a bad rap regarding their “pre-competition” use and I don’t want my product to be labeled as just another “energy supplement”. You see, I feel that most energy supplements SHOULD get a bad rap because most of them end up backfiring on you when you take them before a sporting event. When I say “backfire”, I’m referring to giving you a huge boost of energy and then you end up crashing mid-way through the competition. This happens because most energy products on the market contain WAY TOO MUCH SUGAR…OR WAY TOO MUCH CAFFEINE… OR WAY TOO MUCH OF BOTH!
The DeFranco Energy Bar does NOT make the same mistake that most other energy supplements make! You see, the DeFranco Energy Bar has an EQUAL amount of protein & carbohydrates with ONLY 8 grams of sugar! This protein-to-carbohydrate ratio gives you a nice, sustained energy boost in and of itself; but, I didn’t stop there! I added just enough caffeine to stimulate your system, but not get you too “high”. The secret to the sustained caffeine “buzz” was adding approximately 2000mg. of the amino acid, L-Tyrosine. The L-Tyrosine works synergistically with the caffeine so that you don’t need as much caffeine to stimulate your system. I have found that L-Tyrosine also prolongs the stimulating effects of caffeine without the “crashing” effect that you would get if you just ingested a high dose of caffeine by itself.
So for anyone who has had a bad experience with an “energy supplement” before an athletic event, I would suggest giving the DeFranco Energy Bar a try. Instead of an extreme “high” and then an extreme “crash”, I think you will like the sustained energy & clear-headedness that the DeFranco Energy Bar provides!
#2 – Regarding the price of the DeFranco Energy
Bar…
(First of all, remember that YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!)
Yes, the DeFranco Energy Bar costs a little bit more than your “average” protein
bar. The reason for this is because it’s NOT YOUR AVERAGE PROTEIN
BAR! In fact, it would be unfair to compare the price of the DeFranco
Bar to any other product on the market because there is no other product
on the market of its kind! You see, when you buy a DeFranco Bar, you’re
getting THREE PRODUCTS in one; you’re getting a high-quality protein
bar, a 2-gram dose of L-Tyrosine & a cup of coffee all rolled into
one! If you bought these 3 products separately (like I used to do!), it
would cost you A LOT MORE than 1 DeFranco Energy Bar.
Do the math…
Average Protein Bar = $1.75
2 gram dose of L-Tyrosine = $1.00
Combining 3 Great Products into ONE…
PRICELESS!
Order today& FEEL the difference!
*You can also call your local GNC or Vitamin Shoppe to find out the availability of this product in your hometown!
Joe D.
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Q: Dear Joe,
I noticed you and your Dad have both experienced serious
injuries. Brooks Kubick says (on his website) he no longer lifts weights
due to the pain he experienced lifting heavy weights. Do you think there comes a time
when someone should cut back on the serious heavy training to
avoid potential injury? This is for the average Joes of the world - not professional athletes.
Jeff
Los Angeles
A: Jeff,
It’s funny that you asked me this question; I was just discussing
this topic with my dad a couple days ago. It’s funny because if
you asked me this question a couple years ago, my answer would be very
different than it is now. You see, although lifting HEAVY weights is one
of my favorite things in the world to do (I miss it greatly); I found
out the hard way that it is definitely not “good for you.” What
I mean by this is that it is very taxing on your joints, connective tissue & musculature.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t lift heavy weights.
The best/simplest advice I can give you is that if you choose to lift
heavy weights, you MUST incorporate some kind of soft tissue therapy into
your weekly routine. Any “therapy” that helps re-lengthen
tissue, relieve trigger points, break up scar tissue, decrease inflammation,
etc., must be incorporated into your program! And the key is incorporating
these things into your program while you are still HEALTHY…don’t
wait until your body is screwed up. (This is the hardest part because
when people are healthy, the last thing that they want to do is “rehab”-type
of activities.) Some great soft tissue techniques that have helped
me (but I wish I incorporated them earlier in my life) are as follows:
Active Release Technique, Rolfing, acupuncture, P.N.F. stretching, Graston
technique, Trigenics, massage, just to name a few.
So let’s summarize…
Q: Should you lift heavy weights?
A: If you want to.
Q: Is lifting heavy weights “healthy”?
A: No. It definitely places
more wear and tear on your body, compared to light/moderate
weight training.
Q: Is it worth the risk for the “average
Joe” to lift heavy weights?
A: That’s a personal
preference.
Q: If you decide to incorporate
heavy strength training methods into your program, should you also
incorporate some kind of soft tissue therapy into your weekly routine?
A: DEFINITELY!
Q: Is it cool to be the biggest & strongest guy in the
gym?
A: YES!!
Remember that you live your entire life dealing with what you did to your body during the first 25 years of your life!
Joe D.
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We will list past questions here so that you can go back if you miss any advice Joe has given
